The shiny new Kinect is here. The star
child of Microsoft certainly gives you a feeling of wonderment when
first trying this technological wonder. While the device certainly is an
item that bridges much of the age gap in gaming, maybe even bringing
families together for active playtime in the home, one can only hope
that it inspires more than the novelty games.

CLICK TO ENLARGE

Games with more story
depth to them and full body sensor movement would keep this technology
at the top for some time.

Will games down the line end up needing extra controls for the full
immersive experience? It will be interesting indeed to see just how far
the developers can push the envelope with out needing other controls. If
not pushed, we may be doomed to see dozens of fight games and exercise
and cutesy pet the fuzzy virtual animal games. For now, the Kinect is a
shiny new exciting toy, that some may wait to see what other games come
out for it before getting too excited.

The sensor itself is a horizontal bar connected to a base, which pivots,
by use of a motor system. Depending on how you have your T.V, it sits
nicely just under the video display. Kinect has an RGB camera, depth
sensor and multi – array microphone, providing full-body 3D motion
capture, facial recognition as well as voice recognition.

CLICK TO ENLARGE

The Kinect works
surprisingly well; I know Microsoft put its baby out on display at
various expos all over the world….but I for one wanted to see how well
it performs in a regular environment. Heavy lighting or dim lighting the
system worked bang on. However, when the system takes a picture for a
game profile more lighting is perhaps best.

For those who already have issues with walking and chewing gum at the
same time, the sensor will take some getting used too. Both Donna and I
took to the whole you are the controller thing easily. Dashing about,
jumping and flapping our arms or punching the hell out of virtual
targets. This thing will give you a work out.

Navigation on the Xbox dashboard is easy, though grabbing the good ol
controller to do so some times seemed a lot faster, or more like more
familiar. Navigating menus and looking up games, movies and extras in
Xbox live; I tended to opt for the hand controller when getting into
deeper menus. Voice commands do work very well as well.

The beginning there is some set up and it is fast and simple. With all
the movement to be involved, players understandably need a good-sized
play space. Shoo any animals out of the way too or they will be trampled
or trip you up. Yes, any cats or dogs stepping into the sensor area
under you is captured by the sensor and causes the sensor to track the
animal as if it was a part of the player.

While some users have noted some lag in the time the sensor captures
movement and relays it to screen, I have not really noticed this. Not
unless a millisecond of lag is an earth shattering game breaker. So far,
it is not. The only thing that can limit this is the play space
required.

CLICK TO ENLARGE

I see moving some
furniture in many gamers futures.

I do see some potential problems, not with the Kinect Sensor, nor the
games that are out or coming out down the line. More like possible
issues with players that may harm themselves when trying to play the
games. If you are already balanced challenged, you may want to proceed
with caution. If you want to get in shape and have a blast doing it and
you love games…oh boy are you in for a treat.

Both Donna and I have played a couple of the launch titles (Kinect
Adventures, and Your Shape Fitness Evolved…watch for our reviews) and
have come away exhausted, excited and totally exhilarated. Playing the
games with the Kinect got us grinning ear to ear, what a fun rush.

The only thing holding it back at this stage is the lack luster titles
on release with only two that seem worth the while on the list. Some of
the dance and fitness games use the system to it's fullest, a wider
range of titles not cloning the same concepts will be welcome. The
future seems bright, we can only hope that its not just the shine from
its newness alone.

CLICK TO ENLARGE

The Kinect for Xbox 360
is a solid bit of technology that has brought the gaming experience to a
completely new level.